Edward Stettinius was the Undersecretary of State. He was formerly the head of US Steel, but was tapped for the State Dept job in September 1943. Since Hull was frequently ill, Stettinius had to acclimate very quickly.

Myron Taylor was President Roosevelt’s personal emissary to the Pope and the US representative to the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, a international body whose mandate had recently changed to include projects of relief and rescue (like the WRB).  He had been the head of US Steel before Stettinius.

Taylor was upset about the formation of the War Refugee Board, arguing that the Intergovernmental Committee was adequate, that the creation of the WRB annoyed other countries, and that the WRB was acting irresponsibly.  A meeting between Taylor, the IGC, and the WRB at the beginning of March got heated. Afterwards, Stettinius yelled at one of Taylor’s friends, Pell, at the State Dept.  Word of the incident got back to Taylor.

Stettinius came up with an elaborate plan, claiming that it was Henry Morgenthau at the Treasury Department who forced Stettinius to yell at Pell. Stettinius asked Morgenthau to go along with the ruse.  Unfortunately, FDR heard that there was a dispute, and asked Morgenthau and Stettinius to meet with Taylor to work things out.

Herein lies one of the best transcript texts I’ve read, as Stettinius tries to get out of having to meet with Taylor: “I don’t—no, the—it’s just a matter of time…I’m not–I’m not–I’m not trying to duck it. It’s just a question of doing it and having the time to do it…I would think–I don’t–I would think that it would be an easy way though, to –for you, so that you don’t have to get in a lot of discussion about it–to just deal with it at the meeting of the Board. Don’t you?”